Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rubber compositions suitable for use in automotive tires and also to a method of producing such compositions.
Prior Art
To cope with the trend of resource and energy saving, automobile tire manufacturers have made their great efforts to develop highly hysteresis-resistant, fuel-saving tires.
Tires are susceptible to hysteresis loss mostly at their treads. Hysteresis-resistant rubbers are known for use in tire treads, and they include natural rubber, polyisoprene rubber and butadiene rubber for their small hysteresis losses, styrene/butadiene rubber for its low glass transition temperature, and their combinations. Common additives are carbon blacks of a relatively large particle size and softening agents but in limited amounts.
These hysteresis-resistant rubbers are known vulnerable to skid on wet roads or pavements and hence unsatisfactory from the safety point of view. The use of large carbon black particles is economical of fuel but less resistant to wet skid and abrasive wear. Less softeners would make the resulting tire too rigid and skiddy on ice and snow.